Two mining projects will change owners amid speculations if these developments confirm the end of Australia's mining boom.

BHP Billiton (ASX: BHP) announced on Monday that it will sell for $430 million the Yeelirrie Project, an undeveloped uranium deposit in Western Australia. BHP sold the mine to Canadian miner Cameco Corporation.

BHP said it accepted the bid of Cameco after it found the offer acceptable on valuation and timeliness as well as its assurance of execution of the project. However, the sale would need the green light from the Foreign Investment Review Board and the federal and WA governments.

Yeeliree was discover 40 years ago and is believe to be the second-largest uranium deposit in Australia. It could be found 750 kilometres south of the Kintyre uranium project which the Canadian firm also controls.

The BHP confirmation came just after the giant mining firm announced last week that it will shelf aside the expansion plan for the Olympic Dam project.

"It was pretty clear that they're not in the business of uranium at his present time so the fact that they've sold it on to Cameco is a good news story because in my view it's more likely to be developed under Cameco than BHP," The Sydney Morning Herald quoted WA Mines Minister Norman Moore.

Brian Reilly of Cameco told ABC that uranium mining and milling is its core business and the Yeelirrie project is an asset that fits within its vision and strategy. The firm's other venture in WA, Kintyre, is moving toward a definitive feasibility study and final investment decision by 2014.

"The long-term fundamentals in the uranium industry are very solid, and certainly it's over vision and our strategy to get a number of projects up and get ready for when that market turns," ABC quoted Mr Reilly.

Despite the shelving of the Olympic Dam expansion, SA experts said it does not spell doom for the state.

Keith Thomas, chief executive of the Port Adelaide Football Club, said SA is resource-rich, although benefitting from the full value of the state's natural wealth would take time since those resources would not go away.

"Olympic Dam would have been a game changer, but I'm not 100 per cent sure it was all positive. What many people, particularly interstate, haven't understood is the number of committed mines and projects that are around in SA," News.com.au quoted Hills Holdings Graham Twartz.

Besides the sale of the Yeelirrie mine, Kagara assets are also on the auction block following the collapse of the Perth miner in April 2012.

According to Quentin Olde of Taylor Woodings, the administrator of Kagara, besides the miner's assets in Queensland, included in the sale is Kagara's zinc-lead-silver project in Admiral Bay, located 250 kilometres south of Broome.

Kagara called in administrators after it failed to raise capital and struggled with declining commodity prices. The miner owes over $85 million to 830 creditors, including ANZ Bank.

The administrator tapped Rotschild Australia to oversee the sale of Kagara's assets in Western Australia and PCF Capital for the Queensland assets.

RELATED STORIES